Stereolab Peng!
Stereolab, ‘Peng!’, 1992. Felt the need for more riffage inna Velvet Underground, Krautrock, French Pop, Electronica kinda way. Thus, debut album from t’Lab. Rougher, spikier, more freeform than later stuff; more garage band than Brit Popsters. And that’s A Good Thing. I loved the Lab back in the day. Danced like an idiot at their gigs. Clever pop.
‘Super Falling Star’ a slowly unfolding guitar and keyboard with echoey harmonies and aloof French vocal. ‘Orgiastic’ is classic slab of Lab. Big riff, Krautrock metronome drums, dirty keyboards with female voice floating over the top. ‘Peng! 33’ sounds like ‘Freak Scene’ by Dinosaur Jr., a great riff and solid drums. ‘K-stars’ bontempi lo-fi squitty analogue throb and drone with harmonies morphing into noise. ‘Perversion’, funky drummer with gorgeous lazy riff building like the Velvets live in 1969. Taste! ‘You Little Shits’ big drum sound, strumming, slow vocals, pretty melody, Tom Verlaine guitars. Great stuff. ‘The Seeming and the Meaning’ another bounce of a riff and locked rhythm and analogue keyboard keyboards. ‘Mellotron’ is just that with metronome drums and big Keith Emerson chords and guitar licks. ‘Enivrez-vous’ another big lazy riff and strum getting bigger and bigger with French talk and radio static. ‘Stomach Worm’ a big fat relentless happy slab of bounce that gets noisier and noisier, then noisier. Turn it up, quick! “Surrealchemist’ a slow burner with more lovely harmonies and guitars.
There’s something ‘knowing’ but, somehow, beautifully innocent about that band…
Stereolab Peng!
Stereolab, ‘Peng!’, 1992. Felt the need for more riffage inna Velvet Underground, Krautrock, French Pop, Electronica kinda way. Thus, debut album from t’Lab. Rougher, spikier, more freeform than later stuff; more garage band than Brit Popsters. And that’s A Good Thing. I loved the Lab back in the day. Danced like an idiot at their gigs. Clever pop.
‘Super Falling Star’ a slowly unfolding guitar and keyboard with echoey harmonies and aloof French vocal. ‘Orgiastic’ is classic slab of Lab. Big riff, Krautrock metronome drums, dirty keyboards with female voice floating over the top. ‘Peng! 33’ sounds like ‘Freak Scene’ by Dinosaur Jr., a great riff and solid drums. ‘K-stars’ bontempi lo-fi squitty analogue throb and drone with harmonies morphing into noise. ‘Perversion’, funky drummer with gorgeous lazy riff building like the Velvets live in 1969. Taste! ‘You Little Shits’ big drum sound, strumming, slow vocals, pretty melody, Tom Verlaine guitars. Great stuff. ‘The Seeming and the Meaning’ another bounce of a riff and locked rhythm and analogue keyboard keyboards. ‘Mellotron’ is just that with metronome drums and big Keith Emerson chords and guitar licks. ‘Enivrez-vous’ another big lazy riff and strum getting bigger and bigger with French talk and radio static. ‘Stomach Worm’ a big fat relentless happy slab of bounce that gets noisier and noisier, then noisier. Turn it up, quick! “Surrealchemist’ a slow burner with more lovely harmonies and guitars.
There’s something ‘knowing’ but, somehow, beautifully innocent about that band…